Embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods for computerized management of operators of commercial vehicles.
Operators of commercial motor vehicles (“CMV's”) are required to meet certain specific performance standards and regulations for operating such vehicles. For example, some operators of the CMV's are required to meet hours-of-service regulations.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (“FMCSA”) has established a comprehensive list of regulations that professional operators of CMV's must comply with. These regulations govern drivers, CMV or trucking companies (sometimes called “carriers”) and the CMV's belonging to the carriers. Professional operators must comply with the obligations imposed under federal and state requirements in these areas. The regulations not only include physical and age requirements, but also define the ways an operator can lose his commercial driving privileges. Trucking companies and companies having trucking operations that support their core business are typically required to evaluate and track many aspects of truck operators and their abilities to perform job tasks such as driver qualifications (such as operator licensing and renewal); alcohol and drug testing; accident reporting; driver training; and hiring and screening of applicants.
Many CMV's are equipped with electronic-on-board-recorders to record information relating to the CMV's. The information generally includes names of the carriers, and the U.S. Department of Transportation number of the CMV's. For compliance purposes, operators of the CMV's are also frequently required to collect other relevant information of the drivers such as name, duty status, date and time, locations of the CMV's, and distance traveled. As part of the standards and/or regulations, the operators are required to submit the collected information. Operators frequently submit the collected information on paper. Paper-based processes are often slow. As a result, important compliance information might not be received in time to enforce certain regulatory requirements or to take other relevant actions based on the information.